D.O.G Rescue Cyprus is a registered charity with the sole aim of saving and re-homing the stray dogs of the Dali and Nisou municipality shelters. Municipality shelters can legally send dogs to the veterinary services to be killed if their family is not found or if no one adopts them.
The estimated number of abandoned dogs in Cyprus is 170,000 per year. Estimated number of dogs killed every year by the veterinary services 20,000, most of them healthy dogs.
Since 2010 D.O.G Rescue Cyprus have been rescuing dogs. In the last 7 years D.O.G Rescue Cyprus has saved and rehomed over 2,000 dogs in Cyprus and (mainly) abroad – UK, Holland, Belgium and Germany. At any given time, there are 120-160 dogs under our care.
We receive zero help from the government and municipalities. The legal framework on animal welfare in Cyprus; its weak enforcement and low sensitization of authorities on the issue, make change very slow. In the meantime, lives need to be saved. Cyprus is overrun with unwanted and stray dogs. Shelters are full, and the nightmare of finding the financial support and the volunteers necessary to care for, and rehome these dogs, is a harsh reality that is played out day in day out, year after year.
In Cyprus, many beautiful, healthy dogs are destroyed every day…it’s a heart-breaking situation. Dogs are dumped at the pound, or in the middle of fields with no hope of shelter.
We have rescued dogs who have been tied to trees and abandoned, thrown from cars on the motorway, puppies dumped in bins in plastic bags, hunting dogs abandoned if they can’t hunt, or are thrown out at the end of the hunting season…the list is endless and the dogs just keep coming.
Linda’s feedback to Elizabeth’s Animal Fundraising Gong Baths
“Elizabeth’s fundraising gong baths are the most amazing experiences! Love you Elizabeth and the money from this fundraiser will go to create the puppy play area. Elizabeth and the Healing Animals Organisation have been incredibly supportive over the years and we are very grateful to all the students who volunteer their time and expertise in Cyprus helping rescued dogs find their forever loving home.” Linda Demetriou D.O.G Rescue Cyprus